Operation: Revival
by IndieDK
Summary: Year 2020. Operation: Revival is AMS's last attempt to destroy all zombies. After being left behind by her father, Lisa Rogan sets off to Kurain Village. A strange zombie attack is linked to a cry for help over the phone. The adventure is to die for.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Departure

Thomas Rogan's POV

I hung up the phone silently. I knew what the call was about, even though my caller only asked, "Are you ready for this?" I knew it was time for G and me to leave and start what the AMS hoped was the end of these slimeballs.

I turned to my wife, Sophie, who had a basic idea of what was going on. It was just a year ago that I went into the DBR Facility and was missing for those two weeks. According to my daughter, Lisa, Sophie had never been so worried in her life: even more than when she was trapped in Curien Manor about 22 years ago. Luckily, thanks to G, Lisa, and the help of a boy named Daniel Curien, I managed to get out of there alive.

"Thomas… don't tell me you're going to leave again," Sophie almost whimpered. I gently hugged her and only replied,

"I'll be okay, Sophie, I promise."

"That's exactly what you said last year," Sophie retorted.

"That was last year. This is now, honey." I pulled myself out of the hug only to see Sophie's eyes were welling up with tears. Smiling, I wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her gently. _I will give everything to protect you, but I'm not too okay with the fact that if I die, you'll be in tears for all eternity._ I knew she couldn't read my mind, but I deduced that she had a general idea of what I was thinking.

I finally let go of my wife so I could head out the door. In the path between me and the door stood my daughter, Lisa; I could tell she heard what was going on and was upset about it.

"You're just trying to get eaten by zombies, aren't you?" I figured she never appreciated my career path, even though she had to run through that place in my shoes to get me out last year.

"Maybe," I joked, hoping I could cheer her up. Instead, she snorted in frustration and walked away. _Just you wait, Lisa. You can't be mad at me forever. You've got to worry about me sometime soon._ With my path cleared, I picked up my rifle, which sat next to the door, which I opened, and headed out for what might be the last time. Of course, I thought that every time I had to go to work.

After a good half hour of walking, I found my old coworker, G. His black hair was now silver with age, and his "black leather agent" look was replaced with a "modest businessman" look. Except "modest business" for us is shooting zombies' heads off.

"It's been a year, hasn't it," G smirked as he greeted me. "How's Lisa?"

"Mad at me as usual," I smiled back as I shook hands with my friend.

"I keep telling you, Thomas. She may look like her mother, but she acts just like you."

"She would not like to hear that from you, G." The two of us laughed at this as a woman with medium-length black hair wearing a red dress walked up to us.

"Excuse me, but now isn't the time to be laughing," she scolded. I had heard about her. Her name was Amy. Apparently, just two years after the Curien Manor incident, an outbreak of zombies nearly destroyed Italy. In the process, Amy lost her partner, Harry to a zombie with a chainsaw. _Or was it Gary? No, wait. Gary was James' partner, until he got Kate. I keep mixing the two up._ "Now that we're all here," she continued, "It's time to start Operation: Revival!"

We were in an old military base, and every AMS agent in the country was in it, ready to charge out of it in an all-out war against zombies. Every AMS agent that died by zombies before now were in their graves, wishing that they had made it to this point. It was a common belief among all of us.

Amy stood up behind a podium that was elevated above everyone else as she simply said, "It's time." Every AMS agent cheered, including me and G, and charged out of the base. We split up into formations just as the military once did.

This operation was taking place in every country around the world, and hopefully, the world would be free of this nightmare. I stopped thinking about "Revival" for only one moment, and thought of my motive.

I pictured my wife Sophie, with her shining blue eyes and long, blonde hair, wearing the scarf that she hasn't taken off since our engagement party to match her scarlet dress and heels, reclining in a meadow with Lisa, with the same blue eyes and shorter, dirty blonde hair to match her orange top and black jeans, teasing her mother about wearing a scarf in the summertime. I sighed with a smile on my face with the feeling that the two of them could do it one day without having to worry about zombies eating them. But I also had the feeling that I wouldn't live to see it happen.

Either way, there was no turning back now. The fate of the world rested on all of our shoulders. It was do or die.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Worry

Lisa Rogan's POV

I couldn't believe he would just leave again like that without telling me and Mom. If he makes it out of that alive, I swear to God I'm going to hit him so hard that all of the zombies he's killed will feel it!

Ah, why do I even care? It's not like he's even around for me care about him anymore because I don't know him that well. I mean, the only reason I saved his rear last year was because Mom looked ready to have a heart attack if Dad was dead.

I wonder why I'm even nice enough to call him my dad. He's always out shooting zombies and never stops and takes time to be with his own family. It's like he's just trying to be a hero over everything else, even though he should be a father and husband first. Whenever I get time with him, he always tells me the same thing over and over, 'You've got to believe in yourself, Lisa.' It's annoying!

At least Mom doesn't do the same thing to me. She isn't always out and about doing her journalism. She leaves and comes home at a reasonable time and we spend about an hour or so just with each other's company. Of course, about half of that time is her trying to convince me that my dad's doing all of this for us. I still won't believe her.

After sifting through the rant in my head, I heard a rather gentle knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" I shouted to my mom. She had just got home from work and looked really tired.

I quickly headed to the door, looked out the peephole, and opened the door, smiling. Standing outside of the house was a handsome young man who looked like he was in his late 20's. He wore a grey hoodie and blue jeans, with square-shaped glasses that were nearly covered by his messy brown hair. His name was Daniel Curien. After we met in the DBR Facility, he had gotten a bit tanner, but he was still ghostly pale. I wouldn't want to try to leave the place if that meant running unarmed through a swarm of zombies, either. It's a miracle he survived his whole life in there, though.

"Hey, Daniel! What's up?" I asked. After the incident last year, we've become great friends.

"Nothing, really," he smiled awkwardly as he sweetly replied. He had been sharing an apartment with G until Daniel could get a decent job and move out on his own. That thought made me wonder if Daniel was here because of the same reason Dad left. So, I replied to his remark by raising an eyebrow. "Okay, you got me. I came here because G left this morning, so I've been lonely for a while now."

"So you wanna hang out somewhere?" I asked, hoping that the idea of two friends abandoned by AMS agents hanging out together would solve Daniel's loneliness.

"Hang out? You mean, just the two of us?" Daniel's face took a tint of red to it while asking the question.

"Unless you want to quickly make some friends to form a larger group, that's how it's going down," I replied, laughing a little at him. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, but let's face it: I'm not the queen of tactfulness.

"I guess you're right," Daniel awkwardly replied. I was glad he understood that I wasn't purposefully trying to be mean there. I heard my mom ask from the other room,

"Lisa, how long do you think you'll be gone?"

"It depends. Do you think you'll be okay here by yourself?" I answered.

"I'll be fine, sweetie. You can go out with your friend for a little while. It won't kill me."

"Then let's make it an hour or so, OK?" This was directed to both Mom and Daniel. Daniel nodded, while mom replied with a simple,

"Okay, then! Have fun!"

"Bye, Mom!" I said as I turned to Daniel as we walked out the door. I made sure to close the door behind me so no stupid zombies that managed to make it past the barricade snuck in while I wasn't there.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Friendship

Lisa Rogan's POV

After a while of walking, Daniel and I found ourselves at a giant, stone wall – the barricade that separated people from zombies. Behind this wall, life went on as if zombies never existed. It sent a chill down my spine to know that Dad was over there, and G, too.

"Lisa, are you okay?" Daniel must have noticed that I seemed tense before asking.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Really?" In only a year, the man who was just a few years older than me had already figured out everything about me. With that, it was obvious to assume he could tell I was lying.

"Okay, you got me. I'm really worried," I huffed.

"About your dad?"

"Maybe."

"I knew it," Daniel chuckled.

"I just don't understand why he had to leave. For a whole year, I actually got to spend some time with him. Why would he just leave like that without even telling us beforehand?"

"I think there's a reason for everything, Lisa." Daniel gently grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "Trust me."

"I know, but…" I trailed off. Daniel turned his gentle grasp into a friendly hug. _And this is why you're my best friend, Daniel. Wait. Why is my face getting red?_

"It's okay, Lisa; I lost my dad when I was a kid, so I understand what it's like to have your dad suddenly disappear." I wrapped my arms around him and bit my lip, stifling tears as hard as I could. He could tell I wanted to cry. "You can cry if you want. No need to try to prove that you can live without him and that you're strong." I obeyed his suggestion and sobbed in his shirt.

"Oh, by the way, Lisa, there's a favor I want you to do for me."

"Yes, Daniel?" I croaked a little asking that question, my throat slightly hurting from crying.

"For the longest time, I've been holding a tube full of DNA, the thing which may have started it all, and I want to see if there was a way I could use this to reverse the effects of zombification on people," Daniel replied as he pulled a vial from his pocket that contained tiny, white strands with an orange glow to them. A piece of duct tape was stuck to it, labeling it "000".

"How are we going to do about that?"

"I thought that maybe we could…" he paused. "Maybe we could ask my dad."

"How are we going to do that?" I almost yelped. "You just said he died when you were a kid!"

"Well, there's this village in the mountains called Kurain Village. Apparently the people there are all spirit mediums, so I thought that maybe we could get a spirit medium to consult my dad… however they do it." Daniel was serious. I was seriously shocked at this proposal.

Despite that, it sounded like a good idea. _Besides, how could anything go wrong if we failed? It's not like anything's going to get better._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: The Train

Daniel Curien's POV

At first I was shocked that Lisa had agreed to help me. She didn't seem to be the kind of person to believe in spirit mediums or anything like that. In fact, I guess the only thing that got her to believe in zombies had to be running through a manor full of them to save her dad. Sometimes, I wish she would stop being so stubborn at times.

"Daniel, are you coming or what? It's your idea we're going through with, after all!" We had informed her mother of where we were going so she wouldn't be too worried. We also both brought pistols. Where we were headed was outside of secure walls, but it was high in the mountains, so everyone thought it would be a good idea to not build a wall. Either way, the natural defenses did not guarantee that zombies could not reach us at this village.

"Right," I replied. We calmly stepped into the train and found our suite. It looked nice, with seemingly comfortable sofas and a window to take in the scenery. _Not that the scene of a zombie-ridden world is nice, but maybe the mountains will be nice._ "Lisa, do you actually believe in spirit mediums and other things?"

Lisa looked up, as she was trying to set her handbag full of supplies that one might need in case of a zombie attack down, and replied, "No, but it's the only chance we've got." She sat down and continued, "So we have no choice but to see if this isn't some hoax." I sat down next to her, a little flustered.

"Relax, Daniel. Nothing's going to go wrong." I looked over to see her smile at me.

"I know," I simply replied. "I mean, I have everything ready. Even this," I held up a small vial of a green liquid. Lisa looked confused. "It's a medicine to temporarily stop the effects of zombification." Lisa looked worried. "Relax; I'm not going to turn into a zombie or anything. I just brought it in case one of us got bitten by one." Lisa sighed in relief.

"You had me really worried, Daniel; sheesh!" I gently patted her on the head, smiling, to cheer her up. She forced a smile.

A man with black, spiked hair, greyish-blue eyes, and a grey hoodie looked at his ticket as he stood outside the doorway, looked up, and sat down across from us.

"Hello," I tried to make conversation, but as a guy who spent 99% of his lifetime in a house filled with zombies, I was a socially awkward. "I'm Daniel."

The man looked a bit confused for a moment, smiled, then replied, "I'm Phoenix, but it seems that people like to call me Nick for some reason." He chuckled a bit. "So, where are you two headed?"

"Kurain Village," Lisa spoke up, "And I'm Lisa Rogan."

Phoenix raised his eyebrows. "Small world – I'm headed there, too. And it's nice to meet you two."

"Same," Lisa replied. "But why are you going to Kurain Village?"

"I'm just visiting an old friend of mine," Nick calmly replied.

"You have friends there?" I inquired.

"Yes," Nick said with a smile.

"Lisa and I are just there for business, even if someone's skeptical," I glanced at Lisa on the last few words.

"Trust me. I've witnessed what my friend can do. It's very real." Nick looked completely serious.

"So, how long is the train ride?" Lisa asked as she tried to hide her embarrassment at being proven wrong.

"About two hours." Nick answered with a smile. "Hope you have plenty of patience." _It's as if he already knows Lisa perfectly_. Lisa looked shocked that someone we had just met knew she was impatient.

Over the course of a couple of hours, Lisa and I learned all about Nick, from his former career as a lawyer to his wide range of friends, most of which he defended in court. The friend he was going to visit was named Maya Fey, who turned out to be Lisa's age, current master of the Kurain Channeling School. It also turned out that Nick was just a year younger than me. There also was a little girl in the village named Pearl who was cherished by all who knew her. Lisa seemed interested in meeting the little girl once she heard that Pearl had never met her father and her mother was on death row. I knew why.

As I had mentioned to her earlier, I could sympathize with her on losing her father. My father was killed by one of his own creations, and one of my father's creations could have probably killed her father by now. _It's hard to believe that my father's love for me would drive him to such madness to the point where the world would end up ruined._

The train lurched to a stop in the station. As we got off of the train, a girl who had to be no more than ten ran up and hugged Nick as tight as she could. Her hair was fashioned in a way so that it reminded me of a pretzel.

"Mr. Nick, you're back!" The girl squealed in delight. She looked up and saw us with Nick. Assuming instantly that we were Nick's friends, she let go of Nick and extended her tiny hand. "My name is Pearl Fey. Are you Mr. Nick's friends?"

"We just met him on the train, but I think it's safe to say we're friends, Miss Pearl. I'm Daniel Curien, by the way," I responded as I gently shook her delicate hand.

"I'm Lisa Rogan; it's nice to meet you, Pearl." Lisa managed a genuine smile.

"Miss Lisa, is Mr. Daniel your 'special someone'?" Pearl asked as she beamed. Her smile was the kind that could soften even the hardest of hearts – a contagious one. Lisa's face instantly turned as red as a tomato, and I could feel my face growing warm.

_I have to admit, Lisa is beautiful, and she does seem like a nice person… but I don't think I'm good enough for her._ "N-Not quite, Pearl," I stammered, "Just very close friends." Pearl raised an eyebrow in doubt.

Lisa composed herself first. "Anyways, Daniel and I are here to consult with a spirit medium. What we need is very crucial."

"Oh, right this way!" Pearl took a few steps back, gestured for us to follow her, and started walking to our destination. I quickly began to follow suit, followed by Lisa and Nick.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

The Message

Daniel Curien's POV

Not too long after Pearl began the short tour, we were lead to a young woman whose hair was fashioned in an indescribable manner as I tried to figure out how she could fix her hair like that. The young woman saw Nick and, just like Pearl, hugged him tightly.

After a moment of a sweet embrace, the woman shoved Nick back and began to interrogate him. "Nick, why do you look like a hobo? Is your suit in the dry cleaner? I know it's been two years, but I do remember you promising you'd bring me a cheeseburger the next time you visit. Where is it?" On her last question, she stomped her foot, folded her arms, and pouted at the same time.

"Look, Maya, I have no job. Because I apparently came across forged evidence and was believed to have requested it to be forged, I've been disbarred from court. So, I couldn't afford a cheeseburger. I came to tell you that." The young woman, Maya, looked shocked. "But Daniel over here is actually in need of your channeling abilities." I awkwardly waved hello to indicate myself, even though Nick gestured toward me. Had I mentioned that I am socially awkward because I've spent my whole life in a house full of zombies?

"Oh, I'm sorry! Right this way!" Maya grabbed my hand and took me into a large room. After shutting the door, Maya sealed it with a huge lock. She sat on her knees and instructed me to do so as well. "First things first, please don't make me channel a dead girlfriend. Things get awkward quickly. Also, don't make me channel anyone you hate. I don't want to end up waking up with someone dead because of a fight between you and the spirit."

"I just need you channel my father," I pulled out a picture of my father from my pocket and handed it to Maya. "His name is Roy Curien. I need to ask him something very important."

"I'll try hard to find him, but my spiritual focus is a bit off today, and anything could snap me back to me. Be careful when asking questions." I nodded in understanding.

The magatama Maya wore glowed green, and soon her shape morphed into the shape I knew to be my father. _Even his eyes… there's no way this is a hoax! This is really him!_

"Daniel, is that you?" My father reached out to me and touched my face. There was no doubt that this was him… his spirit, at least.

"Yes, it's me," I replied. I pulled out the orange vial with the label "000" and asked, "This is the DNA that started this, correct?"

"Yes, and the DNA that saved your life," he smiled. "Sadly, the DNA makes up the creature that killed me."

"I saw what did that, but that matter is not important. Tell me, is there any way I can use this DNA to change someone from a zombie to a normal person? Your creations have nearly taken over the world, and Lisa and I need to stop them!" I sat there, waiting for a response.

"Lisa?" _Right. He would have never met Lisa. He died before she was even born._

"Lisa is my friend… my only friend. That's not the important matter. I need to know if there's a way to get rid of these zombies without having to shoot their heads off!" I was determined to get the answer we needed out of my father.

My father paused, then opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a shriek. I paused. _Please, Maya, focus. Don't snap back yet!_ My father composed himself and began to speak.

"There is a machine in an underground floor of the old manor. I used it to create zombies. I know you're smart enough to rewire the machine to reverse its effects. The override code is…" My father couldn't finish. He was cut off by pounding on the door and the sound of gunfire.

I heard Lisa call out to me as the figure of the person before me shifted back to the figure of a young woman. Maya had lost focus. "Daniel, I need you out here, now!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Assault

Lisa Rogan's POV

I followed Daniel as he was dragged away by a girl named Maya. The village we were in was very rustic, but very beautiful and ornate. Everything had a beautiful design. As we walked into a gloriously decorated temple, I noticed a blue urn with pink spots on it that had "Ami" written on it.

As Maya and Daniel entered a room that seemed to contain several intriguing knick-knacks, the door shut in front of me and I heard the click of a lock. I turned around to find that Nick and Pearl had been following me. I trusted Daniel enough to leave him alone with Maya, hoping he could get the answers.

_I'll guess I'll just have to wait a while._ The room in which I stood was beautifully decorated, with sculptures, strange but lovely symbols on the wall, and even the support pillars had a lavish design. _Mom sure would like our house to be this pretty. Dad wouldn't care._ I paused in my thought. _Dad… Why did he have to go…? Right; I can't forget that once Daniel and I figure out how to get rid of these zombies, Dad will come home safe and sound, like always, and we'll have a big group hug again. Just like last year._

"Um, excuse me," a sweet voice chimed to me. I realized that it was Pearl. "If you're bored, I can give you a tour of Kurain Village." She smiled.

"A tour sounds like a good idea," I replied. I just couldn't say no to the little sweetie. She grabbed my hand, then turned to Nick. "Come on, Mr. Nick!" The three of us walked out of the temple and back into the beautiful village.

"We just left the Grand Temple. It's where the channeling happens." I noticed the urn again. On a second glance, one could tell that it had been broken a couple of times.

"Excuse me, Pearl, but why does that urn say 'Ami'?" Pearl turned to the urn.

"That urn contains the soul of Mystic Ami, the woman who invented the Kurain Channeling Technique. She was very powerful." _I'd rather put my soul in a statue of myself, thank you very much._ "It's Kurain Village's most sacred and priceless artifact." _For a priceless artifact, it's seen better days._

As we continued our tour, I got the chance to see several beautiful sculptures and artifacts that had something to do with the Kurain Channeling School or any part of the technique. It was nice to see such beautiful things after seeing mostly zombie-ravaged scenery all of the time. As the tour came to a close, we began to head back to the temple when we heard the sound of something fragile breaking.

Pearl seemed to recognized the sound, for she shouted, "Mystic Ami!" and began to run to the temple had a piercing scream not stopped her. Nick quickly ran over and picked up Pearl. I ran to the temple myself and found the unbelievable.

Somehow, a few zombies decided to be stubborn enough to climb through rivers and up a mountain just to snack on some helpless spirit mediums, and one of them had broken the urn that supposedly contained Ami's spirit. Luckily, I had the supply bag on me and pulled out a pistol. Quickly, I began to fire at the zombies before they could have their lunch. I ran back to Nick and Pearl to make sure they were safe. The other spirit mediums decided to follow me, knowing I would protect them.

"Is this everyone?" This was a large group of people, so I assumed that it had to be everyone. Pearl didn't think so.

"Where's Mystic Maya?" Tears welled up in her eyes in worry.

"She's in the main channeling room thingy," I replied. "If I know any better, she's behind a secure, locked door, and she's not alone. I'll go get her once I know you all are safe." I got to the front of the group and found myself barreling down zombies in order to get the group to the train station.

As one of the mediums tried to get on the train that had just arrived, the conductor demanded to see a ticket. I gently pushed my way through the crowd and grabbed the conductor's collar.

"Look, bub, these people are trying to get to safety. If you don't let them on, there is a high likelihood that they're all going to be eaten alive and turned into zombies. I don't know about you, but I've killed several zombies in my lifetime. I don't want to have to find myself shooting these people. Now, let them on, or I'll throw you to the zombies!" I needed to get these people onto the train quickly so I could get Daniel and that other girl whose name I couldn't remember.

Luckily, my threats convinced the conductor to let the others on as I turned around and headed back for Maya and Daniel. As I ran through the thick forest, I kept gunning down zombies like it was nothing. I ran inside the temple and banged my fist on the door. "Daniel, I need you out here, now!"

After a few seconds' wait, the door finally opened. Maya was sleepy and Daniel looked upset at me. I handed him the supply bag. "Daniel, I'll get Maya to the train. Everyone else is safe. Do you think you can hold off the zombies while I get Maya to the train?"

Daniel hesitated. "I think I can," he replied. He pulled the other pistol from the bag and loaded it. The three of us stepped outside of the temple together.

I decided to say something before we separated. "Daniel?"

"Yes, Lisa?" Daniel looked confused, but luckily, he didn't seem upset anymore.

"I think I should tell you… in case one of us doesn't make it…"

Daniel cut me off, "Don't talk like that. We'll both be fine. Even if I do get bitten, I've got the vaccine."

"Anyways," I continued, "If anything goes wrong, I just want you to know that I," I could tell my face was getting red. "I love you," I blurted. Daniel's face grew red, and instead of saying anything, he leaned over and gave me a sweet kiss. The two of us smiled.

Daniel turned and began to shoot zombies. He was able to take each one down with one shot. I smiled, grabbed Maya's arm, turned, and started shooting some zombies as well.

Once we got to the forest, the zombies slowly stopped appearing. I turned around to make sure that they weren't going to attack us from behind. Then, I heard a man's scream. I knew exactly whose it was.

All I knew to do was to scream. "Daniel! No!" I instinctively dropped my pistol and ran as fast as I could back to the temple. _I should have been the one to stay behind! I'm sorry, Daniel! I love you and I don't want to lose you!_ I stopped halfway through my trip. _He has that immunity vaccine! He'll be fine!_ Just as I began to head back to where I left Maya, I saw a bright, orange light fill the area, then fade away, followed by several bursts of fire. I knew I couldn't abandon Daniel now. Just before I reached the temple, realization struck. _I left my gun behind._ What I saw was even more terrifying. All of the zombies were dead, burnt to a crisp. I couldn't see Daniel anywhere. The only creature standing was a heavily armored, human-like figure with glowing red eyes, two horns that curled toward the back of his head, and three long claws that sat at each place where a human's hand and feet would go.

"Wh-what are you? Where is Daniel?" Without a gun, I was dead meat.

"Daniel is no more," the creature replied. The creature shot up into the air and seemed to vanish as he flew away.

I fell to my knees and cried like I had never cried before. _Daniel is dead. He's dead and there's nothing that will reverse this._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Pain

Thomas Rogan's POV

G and I had been out here with some of our comrades for days on end, killing as many zombies as possible. The land was mostly dirt, as if the grass was so afraid of zombies that it refused to grow. The skies were dark and cloudy, but it did not rain. There was scattered debris of all sorts of things, from buildings to playgrounds to airplanes. In order to preserve ammo, the other agents decided to stop using their guns and picked up anything they could and used their new weapons so it would take longer for me and G to run out of ammo, giving us better chances of survival.

Then, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I checked to see who was calling me. It was Sophie. I knew it was a bad idea to talk to her on the phone while killing zombies, but something urged me to do it.

"Thomas?" Sophie sounded panicked; just like she did 22 years ago.

"Sophie, what's wrong?" I realized how much worry was in my voice after I spoke.

"The whole town is currently being attacked by this… this thing, and it's taking a little while for the police to get together and stop it."

"Well, get to cover in our basement," I ordered.

"I can't, Thomas; I'm trapped and… oh no. No, no, no, no, NO!" After that, all I heard was static. I dropped my phone, paralyzed in horror. It was just like 22 years ago. Sophie was in trouble. If I hadn't acted so quickly, surely she would have become a zombie. And now there is a high chance that she is dead.

Then I stopped zoning out when I heard G yell, "Rogan, look out!" I turned just in time to see a zombie with a club swing at me. I jumped before it hit my head, but then it slammed its club into my right leg. I fell to the ground, clutching my leg in pain. I was sure that I had at least five broken bones in there somewhere. Before it swung again, one of my comrades bashed it in the face with an old lead pipe, knocking the zombie's head clean off.

"You okay?" Everyone else ran over to me. One of the other AMS agents, who had a higher rank, turned to G and gave him an order:

"G, you take Rogan out of here and come back as quickly as possible. In a few weeks, I want Rogan back out here. Understood?" Both G and I nodded.

G helped me up and helped me limp through all the land we had gone past. As we got closer and closer to civilization, more and more signs of life appeared, like grass and trees and flowers.

Several hours after we began our journey, G and I reached the city. Quite a few buildings were burning, a bunch more were heavily damaged, and my house was gone. I broke free from G and limped over to where the house once was.

"Sophie?" I cried out for my family. "Lisa?" G grabbed me and dragged me to the hospital as I kept crying out my wife and daughter's names.

I had passed out once we got to the hospital and awoke in a hospital bed. The whole room was white, and everything looked clean and crisp. "Sophie," I croaked.

"Thomas?" I recognized that sweet voice that came from the other side of the blue curtain to my left.

"Sophie!" I practically jumped out of bed, pulled the curtain aside, and limped over to my wife. She has a few cuts and bruises, and several first to second-degree burns. "Sophie, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, honey," she replied as she reached out and grabbed my hand. "Nothing worse than what you've been through. Why are you here?"

"A zombie broke my leg pretty badly. I hate the fact that I've left the field of battle, but at least I get to see you again." I smiled. No matter what, Sophie could always make me smile. _That's one of the things I love about her._ Then, something hit my mind. "Where's Lisa?"

"She's out with Daniel. They went to a cute little place called Kurain Village. Apparently, Daniel had something important to do up there. They should be fine," Sophie seemed calm. _Those two had better be okay._ I nodded in understanding. "Now go back to bed, Thomas. You need some rest."

Normally, I would argue with Sophie to get my way, but I was plumb tired and needed some shuteye. So, I obeyed my wife like every good husband learns to do and climbed into bed. It didn't take long for me to pass out in my bed. I dreamt of that incident 22 years ago. After saving Sophie, G and I discovered the madman Dr. Roy Curien. His own creation, some monster he called the Magician, killed him before we could deal with him. Then the Magician turned on us. Despite a long, grueling battle, it eventually died, vowing revenge on the two of us. _Why did I dream of that? I was hoping for something… nicer._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Help

Lisa Rogan's POV

_"Daniel is no more."_ The creature's words rang clear in my head. _He's lying; he's just gotta be. Daniel is alive! He has to be! He's out there somewhere, alive and happy and—_

"Um… Miss Lisa?" I looked up. Maya had found me and knelt down next to me. "What's wrong?"

I tried to say something, but instead, I wound up choking on my own jibberish. Maya gently placed a hand on my shoulder. "I…" I tried to speak again, but I could only get one word out.

"Come on, Miss Lisa," Maya spoke. "We'd better get going." I noticed that she had both my pistol and the supply bag.

My eyes widened. "Where did you find the bag?"

"It was a bit of a distance from the crispy zombies," she replied. I lit up. _He must be alive! He dropped the bag, and ran!_ I got up and started running in the direction that I saw the creature go. _Maybe Daniel is just around the corner and…_ I noticed the direction the creature flew in.

It headed straight for our town. I watched in horror as flashes of fire erupted from where my home and the people I knew were. "No!" I kept screaming the same thing. I also knew at this point, that even if Daniel had survived, the creature would have spotted him and killed him. He was gone, and I was going to have to accept this.

"Lisa," Maya piped up. "Is there anything I can do?"

It hit me. "Who did Daniel ask you to channel?"

"Um, his father, if I can remember."

"Please," I begged, "Please channel him again. I need to talk to him."

"I'll try," Maya trailed off. "My focus is off today, so I probably won't be able to keep his spirit for long."

"Then I'll get the answers as quickly as possible." Maya nodded, then got down on her knees. The magatama around her neck glowed green, and then the green light consumed the girl as her figure changed into that of a man.

The man in Maya's body looked at me. I knew that this "spirit channeling" was not a hoax at all. This girl's body was now hosting a man's spirit. The man's eyes locked onto mine.

"Who are you?"

"My name's Lisa. Are you Daniel's father?"

The man smirked. "You look familiar."

"Answer my question! I don't have time for your games!"

The man shook his head, still smiling. "Your personality reminds me of someone else. What is your full name?"

I sat there, confused. "I'm guessing the answer to my question is a yes. And, uh, my name is Lisa Rogan?"

"That's what I thought. You're too much like your father. Oh, how I hate your father." And with that, the man's spirit left.

"N-No! Get back here!" _I need answers from you!_ Maya opened her eyes. It was her figure again. My eyes were filled with tears. I gritted my teeth. I knew this man refused to give me answers because of something my dad did.

Then the thoughts of my father came back. _He's probably dead, too…_ I noticed a green light consuming Maya again. "Maya, you don't have to…" I realized that her figure was changing into the figure of a much curvier woman. I tilted my head in curiosity. "What the…?"

Finally, this mystery woman spoke. "Hello. I'm Mia Fey, Maya's older sister." My eyes widened. "It seems you're having trouble. I normally give encouragement to my former student, Phoenix Wright, but Maya already likes you, so I thought I'd help."

I blurted, "Do you know how to stop these zombies?"

Mia raised an eyebrow. "Not really, but, as a lawyer, I know that sometimes the answer to a question lies where the question came from. I don't know if that will help." My thoughts searched through places where that could apply. _Kurain Village definitely can't be a choice. The wall Daniel and I stood by probably has nothing useful._ The answer came to me in the blink of an eye._ The DBR Facility where I first met Daniel had zombies popping out of test tubes! Clearly there's something that makes zombies! I could find it and maybe figure out how to reverse its effects!_

I hugged Mia elatedly, repeating, "Thank you, thank you!" I felt Mia's body shrink and I knew Maya was in my arms. I felt her arms nervously wrap around my back.

"What happened?"

"I met your sister," I replied. We separated and I said, "You know, once we get back to town, I'll buy you a cheeseburger." Maya's eyes widened and she grinned.

"Really?"

"Of course," I smiled. _There's some mysterious adorableness that I already like about her._

We both got up and headed for the train station. For some reason, something inside me told me that everything back in town was not as bad as it seemed. The flashes of fire had stopped a while back. We made it to the train station. The conductor, the same one as before, recognized me, and let me and Maya on the train without even asking for a ticket.

Once Maya and I found our place and sat down, I told the story of why the conductor let us on without any ticket problems. She laughed to the point where she almost cried. I admit, I was laughing, too.

Throughout the two-hour train ride, Maya and I had told each other so many humorous stories that when we got out of the train, we had forgotten that something had attacked the city a while ago. I ran to my house, or at least what once was my house. Maya was not too far behind me.

Surprisingly, the only thing that remained intact was the car in our driveway. I knew Mom wouldn't be home at this point due to the time. She was out at her job, probably reporting on the incident. I hoped Mom wouldn't mind me taking Dad's car out for a while. I searched through the rubble that was my home, hoping to find Dad's car keys. A few minutes' worth of searching yielded one set of car keys. _I promise I'll bring it home, Daddy._ I hopped in the driver's seat of the car. "Hop in, Maya."

Maya hesitated, then decided to open the passenger door and hop in the seat. We buckled up, started the car, and I drove until we found a remote spot. _Isn't this the same spot where Daniel and I talked about the crazy idea of getting rid of all zombies?_

We both got out of the car. "What happened to the idea of my cheeseburger?"

"There's an all-you-can-eat burger place that I'll take you to if you do me a favor." Maya started bouncing up and down.

"I'll do it; I'll do it! Tell me what I have to do!"

"I need you to meditate. I know meditation is good for the soul, and maybe it'll help you focus."

Maya suddenly looked more serious than I had ever seen her. "Waterfall," was all she said.

"Excuse me?"

"Take me to a waterfall. I need to stand under a waterfall and meditate. It'll help me with my focus."

"Okay…" I responded. "But is there even a waterfall anywhere near here?"

"Then I'll need you to take me to Hazakura Temple. There's tons of training that can help me with my focus."

"Where is Hazakura Temple?" _This girl is confusing me with her spirit medium jargon._

"You know where Eagle River is, right?"

"Of course I do," I replied. "I've been there before. Almost fell in."

"Hazakura Temple is there." Maya lightened up from her seriousness, much to my relief.

"I'll take you there." I smiled.

The two of us hopped in my Dad's car as we began the three-hour drive to Hazakura Temple.

"How are you going to improve your focus?"

"It's simple," Maya answered, "I'm going to sit in a very cold room on a block of ice overnight." My eyes widened.

"That's crazy!"

"I know," Maya beamed. I would have put my head in my hand, were I not driving.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Focus

Maya Fey's POV

We reached Hazakura Temple around lunchtime. I could tell because my stomach was growling loudly. This made Lisa chuckle.

_I can't believe how incredibly nice she is… she said she's a year younger than me, but I still can't help but see her as the type to take someone like me in as a little sister. Probably because she's buying me cheeseburgers._ I hopped out of the car the moment it stopped and ran up to the temple gates.

I quickly knocked on the door repeatedly, and was quickly greeted by a familiar face. This familiar face was short and chunky, and looked very motherly.

"Sister Bikini!" I hugged the head nun of the temple – the only nun living there at this point, due to Iris going to jail – full of excitement.

"Mystic Maya? What brings you here?"

I let go of her and stepped back. "This is kind of embarrassing, but I'm not at top-notch spiritual focus today, so I thought it best to take precautionary measures and just go through the special training again.

"The special training, eh? I can't disappoint the Kurain Master, now can I?"

"Nope," I grinned. Lisa finally came over and was standing next to me. "Sister Bikini, this is my new friend, Lisa Rogan. Lisa, this is Sister Bikini. She's the head nun here… and the only one currently."

"Surely there must have been someone else around here. There's no way one could run a temple by themselves," Lisa responded.

"I've been doing it for the past two years, since Iris… left for somewhere else," Sister Bikini noted. "Anywho, we're here to give you the special training, but that's not until tonight. You two are just in time for lunch!"

I jumped up in the air, shouting, "HOORAY!"

Lisa rolled her eyes and laughed as I came back down to the ground.

The three of us walked throughout the grounds of Hazukura Temple, and I took in all of the sights. Everything there was not quite as decorative as Kurain Village, but everything was still very beautiful. _I kinda wish Nick was here with me._ This thought made me blush a bit.

We arrived inside the main temple, where I could smell lunch. My mouth watered at the thought of something to eat. I hadn't eaten in hours, and my stomach was letting me know about it. When we sat down to eat, I devoured my food before anyone even took a bite. "Is there seconds?" Everyone laughed except me.

The day seemed to fly by pretty quickly, considering that there were only three people at Hazakura Temple, including me. Lisa decided to hit the hay early, considering that there was nothing left for her to do. I went with Sister Bikini to the Training Temple, which was on the other side of Eagle River. We crossed the bridge when we heard a haunting moan emerge from near the Training Temple. A few zombies emerged from the shadows and one grabbed my necklace before I could scream. I struggled out of its grasp and grabbed Sister Bikini. The two of us raced across the bridge. Sister Bikini ran to get Lisa's help, when I realized that I had lost my magatama. I could not afford to lose it, so I ran back across the bridge to try to grab my magatama, but there were too many zombies in the way, which were coming after me. I turned and ran away from them, only to discover that there was a small group of zombies headed towards me from the other direction, leaving me trapped.

My first instinct was to climb up the guard wires that stood about five feet tall and hang onto one of the tall support poles for dear life, staying as close to the top as possible.

"LISA!" I found myself screaming. I was more terrified than I had ever been in my life. More terrified than when I was when encountering von Karma with a stun gun. More terrified than when I was when Dahlia Hawthorne tried to kill me at this very place. More terrified than when I was kidnapped by de Killer and didn't know whether I was going to survive or not. "LISA, HELP ME!" These zombies were more likely to kill me than anyone else I had met before.

The sound of gunfire rang in my ears just before a zombie nearly grabbed my leg. Zombies started to fall down quickly. I turned to see Lisa blowing zombies to bits like it was nothing. After the last zombie fell to the ground, I came down from the pole, ran over to Lisa, and hugged her, burying my face in her shoulder and crying.

"Thank you; thank you," I kept repeating. She gently patted my head and reassured me.

"It's okay, Maya. You're safe now." _I could have sworn that was Mia that just spoke to me, and not Lisa._ Sister Bikini ran back into the scene, huffing and puffing. She saw what was going on and calmed down. The three of us crossed the bridge and headed for the temple. Before I got to the temple, I picked up my magatama. _I'm going to need this in the future for sure._ Sister Bikini guided me into the training room and walked out. The doors shut and I heard a lock click. _Alright, let's get this training thing over with._


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Hope

Lisa Rogan's POV

The morning after Maya's training, I came to visit her in the Training Temple to see how she was feeling after the previous night's events. Turns out, she was standing outside the temple wrapped in a blanket, shivering.

"I-It w-was c-c-cold in th-there," Maya stated as I approached her.

"You don't say," I sarcastically mused as I rolled my eyes. I turned to Sister Bikini, who had just walked out of the temple and asked, "Is there any way you could help with my focus, too? I apparently have a small memory problem where I forget certain things like names and whatnot, but the memory tends to come back quickly."

Sister Bikini laughed. "I don't think I've got any training for that, dear. Maybe next time I'll have something!" The three of us laughed.

"Feeling any better, Maya?" Not only was I asking about the cold or her focus, but I knew she would probably be shaken up from what happened last night.

"Y-Yeah," she gave me another hug. _Good grief, you're cold!_

"Anyone up for breakfast?"

"Ooh, me! I'm ready, Sister Bikini!" Maya let go of me and started to run across the bridge.

Sister Bikini called after her, "Wait, Mystic Maya! I haven't even made it yet!"

After breakfast, the three of us said our goodbyes and Maya and I departed for town. After our three-hour drive, Maya yelped, "STOP THE CAR!" I stomped my foot on the brakes just before we reached any busy intersections. Before I could ask what was going on, Maya unbuckled herself, hopped out of the car, and raced toward two people that we had just passed.

I turned to see that we had passed Nick and Pearl, both of whom were being hugged by Maya at the same time. It looked like Pearl was crying. I turned off the car and decided to join the group.

Pearl was, in fact, crying and hugging Maya, squealing, "Mystic Maya! You're okay! Where were you?"

"Lisa ended up taking me to Hazakura Temple for the special training." _Like she's going to mention being attacked by zombies to an already worried Pearl._

"Oooh, the special training! How did you do?"

"It went well," Maya smiled, causing Pearl to smile. Nick, on the other hand, shot me a stare that seemed like a glare, but it was filled with relief.

"You let her go through the special training? You do realize what that is, right?"

I threw my hands up in the air defensively. "I tried to talk her out of it. No need to get your panties in a bunch. Your girlfriend's okay, after all." Nick's face grew red, as well as Maya's.

Pearl asked with the sweetest face, "Aren't they the cutest pair?"

"P-Pearly! W-We're not a p-pair!" Maya squeaked at her friend.

I had to know something. "How do you guys know each other? I mean, Maya and Pearl live in the same village, but how did all of you meet?"

"Pearly and I are cousins," Maya replied. "And Nick and I met when we were going to hang out with my sister, Mia, but some… complications happened." She looked solemn on the last part of that sentence. "I've wound up in trouble several times, and Nick used to always save me!" I smiled.

"Pearls and I met when I was introducing a client to Maya," Nick continued, still flustered about me teasing him.

Pearl's expression changed. "Miss Lisa?"

"Yes?"

"Where's Mr. Daniel? Is he okay?" _I really hoped I wouldn't have to tell her… I can't just tell her that Daniel's dead. How could I break her heart like that?_

"He's… he's with his father." Nick looked at me with understanding; he knew I meant that Daniel is dead.

"When can I see him again?"

"I don't know, Pearl. I don't know." _I wish he could come back to us… to me…_

Maya burst the bubble by questioning me, "So, how about my cheeseburgers? Don't pull a Nick on me, Lisa." Everyone burst into laughter except Maya, who kept a serious look on her face.

"Come on, I'll treat all of you guys to some cheeseburgers," I answered. The four of us hopped into my dad's car and drove off to the all-you-can-eat cheeseburger joint.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Discovery

Gaiden's POV

I decided to eat some real food before my trip back to the field of battle. I had sat in the hospital room with Rogan to ensure that he wouldn't escape last night. Now that Sophie's mostly recovered, she's been released from the hospital, and she told me that she would watch over her husband for me.

I figured that, if the last real food I was going to eat was what I ate now, it'd be cheeseburgers, and a lot of them. Lucky me, there happened to be an all-you-can-eat cheeseburger buffet near the hospital. I walked through the parking lot and could have sworn I saw Rogan's car there. I ignored the car, passing it off as a look-alike until I headed into the buffet and saw Lisa with three strangers: a young man, a young woman, and a little girl. _This is weird… normally she's just with Daniel. Where is he?_

I walked over to Lisa and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, kiddo."

She looked up. "G!" She jumped up and I felt myself in one of her bear hugs. "Why are you here again so soon?"

"I had to escort your father to the hospital. A zombie bashed his leg and broke quite a few bones. You have no idea how hard it is to drag someone as stubborn as your father to a place he doesn't want to go. So, who are your friends?"

"This is Phoenix Wright," she gestured to the man, then to the young woman, "this is Maya Fey, and here's her cousin, Pearl Fey. I met most of them at Kurain Village. And did you say my dad's at the hospital?"

"Yep. He keeps trying to escape every night. Your mom's watching him now that she's mostly better."

Lisa paused. "What do you mean, 'now that she's mostly okay'?"

"Some… thing attacked this city while we were out fighting, and apparently, it didn't like your mom. She only got a few cuts, bruises, and minor burns. She'll be okay, Lisa. I promise."

Lisa sighed in relief, clutching her chest. Maya put a hand on her shoulder, looking very sympathetic. _I wonder if she knows what that feels like, too, or if she's just being nice._

"So, Lisa, I've got a question," I continued.

"What is it, G?"

"Where's Daniel?"

Silence fell upon us and Lisa's smile disappeared. The only one who didn't look solemn was the little girl, Pearl. That was all that I needed to figure it out. _Zombies got him. After surviving for nearly 30 years in a zombie-filled house, it's very ironic that it be zombies that killed him._ I hugged Lisa, knowing that, whether the two knew it or not, Lisa and Daniel were pretty madly in love, and it must really hurt her knowing that he's gone. _After all, I lost someone I loved, too. But I have a feeling that Lisa's going to miss Daniel more than I missed Varla. _

I cleared my throat and said, "Well, I'm here for cheeseburgers. I don't know about you. Once I get those cheeseburgers, I gotta go kill some more zombies."

Before I could walk away and grab a few cheeseburgers, Lisa piped up, "Hey, Uncle G…"

"Uncle G? What are you trying to butter me up for?"

Lisa chuckled, then replied, "Apparently you have a guide on certain zombies and whatnot, right?"

"Yeah. I have it right here. What makes you so interested?"

"Can I please see it?" Lisa tried to pull off a puppy face, but I could resist it. But I didn't see any harm in letting Lisa borrow my book.

"Sure, why not." I pulled the book out of the pocket in my shirt and handed it to Lisa. I walked over and grabbed quite a few burgers. Lisa's friend Maya walked up and grabbed more burgers than me. Seeing this as a challenge, I grabbed a few more and sat down near her.

Maya looked up before eating her first burger and asked, "Are you challenging me in a cheeseburger eating contest?"

I smirked. "Maybe I am."

Maya popped her knuckles and grinned. "Challenge accepted." Lisa and Phoenix looked at each other with annoyance on their faces. Pearl, however, loved the idea.

About ten minutes later, even the employees were watching us duke it out. Pearl was cheering Maya on, shouting things such as, "You can't let an old man beat you, Mystic Maya!"

Lisa, on the other hand, had her nose buried in my little book. Then, she dug around in a small bag and pulled out an empty vial. I think it had duct tape on it, but I couldn't tell if it said anything or not.

She flipped through the book a bit more, then stopped and gasped. Her gaze went from the book to the vial, and vice versa. After a few seconds, it looked like something was brewing in her mind. She put the vial and the book down on the table and turned to Maya.

She grabbed Maya's shoulder and said, "Come on, Maya. It's time to go."

"But I'm nowhere near done yet!"

"Maya, listen. This is really important. We need to go now." Lisa urged her friend up and out of the restaurant. The two quickly hopped in her dad's car and I saw the two drive off rather quickly.

"Mystic Maya?" Pearl's face was full of confusion. "Why did Mystic Maya and Miss Lisa just leave?"

I picked up the book, trying to see where she had last been, but the book was closed. I looked at the vial, turned it over, and found it to be labeled "000".

_"000"… where have I seen that number before...?_ I flipped through the book until I found it. _Type 000… the Magician? It's alive again? But… how?_ I darted out of the restaurant and headed straight for the hospital.

I bolted into Rogan's room and, huffing, all I could say was, "The Magician… it's alive again..."

Rogan's eyes widened in surprise as he sat up quickly in his bed. "What?"

"And I have a feeling that Lisa's going after it… wherever it's going."

Rogan jumped out of bed. "I'm going after her, and you're not going to stop me!"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Planning

Lisa Rogan's POV

After I had discovered that the creature that killed Daniel and attacked the city, called the Magician, was created from the DNA that Daniel was holding, I knew I was going to have to have another chat with Dr. Curien.

I drove up to the park, and dragged Maya to the most isolate place.

"Why are we doing this, Lisa?"

"Because," I answered, "I need to talk to Dr. Curien again."

"Didn't he refuse to give you answers?"

"I have some information that will make him talk; I swear it!"

Maya nodded in understanding and sat down on her knees. I sat down in front of her. A green light enveloped her as her body morphed into that of Dr. Curien, save for the hair and outfit.

Dr. Curien looked up at me. "You again."

"Yes, me. We need to talk."

"Quite the stubborn one, aren't you?"

"Why was Daniel carrying around DNA for the Magician?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know what it was?"

"The DNA has taken over somebody and now it's killed Daniel and wrought havoc on the town! Why was he holding this DNA?" I took a deep breath so as not to scare Dr. Curien away from giving me answers.

"Because I have a machine in the DBR Facility that creates zombies…"

I cut him off, thinking back on Mia's words, "Of course! That's it! Is there any way we can use it to reverse the effects of zombification?"

"I'm not sure," he replied. "But if you want to work the machine, you're going to need the override code."

"Don't give it to me yet, Doc. I've got memory problems, and I don't want to forget that."

"Fine, then. But the Magician's DNA is the key to this. It is the first DNA I created, so it is closest to human DNA. After all, I made it from my own son's DNA to save his life."

This left me speechless. _He made zombies… to save Daniel's life? How does that even work?_

"That story isn't important right now. You're going to have to get the Magician's DNA if you want your plan to work."

"From what info I read on this guy, that's going to be quite a toughie, considering he shoots fireballs and stuff. Alright, Doctor, I'm done with you for now."

A green glow enveloped the doctor as Maya's spirit returned to her body. "Did you get what you needed?"  
>"Yes, I did, Maya. Now we just need some equipment. We need to run by the hospital and grab the stuff the doctors use for shots. I can't go in because my dad's in there and will stop me if he sees me. He won't recognize you. Think you can do that for me?"<p>

Maya nodded. "Okie dokie artichokey!" We hopped into my dad's car and sped off for the hospital.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Favor

Maya Fey's POV

Once we reached the hospital, I hopped out of the car and ran into the hospital. _Oh, man. I hope I don't get in major trouble if I get caught borrowing this stuff. Nick lost his job, so he can't defend me in court, and if Edgeworth is the prosecutor, call me screwed._ I snuck through the halls, not knowing where I should go.

I wandered around and eventually ran into a blonde woman with blue eyes wearing a red dress and a green scarf. She looked very much like Lisa.

"Are you looking for something?"

"Erm… I need some… uh… stuff," I replied. _If she works here and finds out I'm here to borrow some stuff, I'm so dead!_

"That's nice. I wish I could help, but I'm just a journalist, not a nurse." _What a relief!_ The woman walked into the nearest room. Not too soon after, a man with brown hair, a 5 o'clock shadow, a brown trenchcoat, and a cast on his right leg stormed out of the room.

"I don't care what you try to do, G, I'm not going to let you stop me from protecting Lisa!"

_RUN!_ I knew this "G" guy had to be the same guy I met earlier, and I had a feeling that running into him would stall us. I darted off and hid in another room. I looked around to find exactly what I needed. I grabbed what I needed, and walked out of the room. I started to walk towards the elevator when I heard a familiar voice cry out, "Hey! Stop! We need talk!"

I turned to see G again and ran towards the elevator and didn't stop until I pushed the button to take me to the lobby and closed the door as quickly as I could. Just before the door closed, G stood right in front of the door, asking, "What are you and Lisa up to?"

It took a few floors, but I found myself at the lobby within a minute. _I'd better hurry! I have a feeling G and his friend are going to try to stop Lisa for some reason, and I know she really wants to do this, so I can't let them do this to her! I've got to get to her first!_ As the doors opened, G stood in front of me.

"Listen, Maya, you and Lisa can't go through with whatever it is you're doing. It's too dangerous!"

"I'm sorry, G, but you leave me no choice." I instinctively lifted my leg and thrust my foot where the sun doesn't shine, bringing the man to his knees. "I'm really sorry, but I had to do that." I stepped around him and ran to the car as the man in brown came out of the other elevator.

I hopped in and yelped to Lisa, "DRIVE!"

She quickly got the car going, then asked me, "Did you get caught or something?"

"Yeah, your friend G found me. He was going to try to stop us, as well as this guy in brown."

"That sounds like my dad." She paused. "Why would they try to stop us? A zombie's a zombie, and, even though this Magician thing might be tougher than normal, that doesn't mean he's impossibly hard to beat, right?"

"Right. So, Lisa, where to next?"

"I'm trading these pistols and bullets in to buy a rifle and some ammo. It's going to be a lot more useful than these things." The two of us headed off to the nearest gun shop possible.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Pestilence

?'s POV

The flight to Venice had been a bit far, but what waited in the building where Caleb Goldman was sure to be worth the inconvenience. The building was pitch-black, especially since it was midnight. I searched through the building, stepping past several dismembered zombies until I got to the top.

I had found nothing yet. This discouraged me, but I had to have faith. Something should be here. Anything to make me more powerful. After all, Goldman was the one responsible for funding Curien's research, so he had to have stored something helpful here.

I searched the building again, but on the bottom floor, I noticed a section of one of the walls looked very strange. _How intriguing. Goldman must be hiding something behind this wall._

I tapped on one of the bricks in the unusual section, and the bricks began to shift away from the center until the average human could fit through it. My height made it a bit cumbersome to get through, but get through I did.

What sat inside was a strange holding capsule. I figured its only purpose was to hold what was inside. The green glow emanating from it made it hard for me to discern what was inside. Before me stood a control panel with more buttons than one could fathom.

Disconcerted by this, I pressed a large, blue button, which seemed to do the trick. The green glow faded until the room was nearly pitch-black again. I heard a hissing sound as I perceived that the glass encasing was opening up, allowing me access to what lay inside.

Before I could approach my mysterious prize, which seemed to be a ball of sorts, uncurled itself into a humanoid figure. It looked strikingly similar to me, but had more blue to its scheme, and even hair. It opened its eyes to reveal a cyan eye with a green pupil and a green eye with a cyan pupil. The body shape of the figure led me to assume that it was a female. It looked at me and tilted its head curiously.

Then, it spoke. "You are the Magician, correct?"

"Yes," I replied.

"You have served my father, the Emperor, valiantly, according to the memories implanted in me. For that, I give you my loyalty."

"What do they call you?"

"I was labeled Type 027, also known as Pestilence."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: Search

Thomas Rogan's POV

I watched as the black-haired girl ran out the double doors carrying medical equipment. I limped outside the building to see her hop in my car. I knew it was my car when I saw who was driving it. _Lisa!_

I tried to limp over to the car to at least talk to my daughter, but she clearly did not see me as she sped away. I cursed. I cursed my broken leg. I cursed not having a car. I cursed everything that kept me from my daughter, even the dead zombie that broke my leg.

I turned around and limped back inside to see G curled up on the ground, writhing in pain. I instantly felt a great wave of sympathy once I realized that the black-haired girl had kicked him in the weak point of any man.

"Need a hand, G?"

"Yes," he squeaked, breathless. I extended a hand to him and he grabbed it. He used me as an anchor to hoist himself up. "Now my crotch knows how your leg feels." I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"We're going to have to get a car, aren't we?"

"Yep." G was going to say much when the number one thing on his mind was the pain he was in right now.

"Maybe someone will be kind enough to let us borrow one," I suggested.

"Doubt it," G replied.

"Let's check anyways." The two of us dragged ourselves out of the hospital and headed out to the parking lot when we bumped into Sophie.

Her arms were folded across her chest and she was tapping her foot. "Where do you two think you're going? You're both hurt!"

"I'm getting better," G groaned.

"Look, Sophie, Lisa is putting herself in more danger than she thinks she is. We have to stop her!"

"Fine, Thomas. But I'm driving." Sophie reluctantly headed to her car and we slowly followed. Once we were all in the car, Sophie drove out of the parking lot and I showed her which direction Lisa and her friend went. Before we continued to search for Lisa, I suggested that we get some rifles.

"We'd better stop by my place. I've got a few to spare," G suggested.

"Don't forget ammo, you knuckleheads," Sophie teased.

"I won't forget," I grumbled.

Once Sophie pulled up in front of G's apartment, G and I hopped out of Sophie's car and headed into the apartment. We ran inside and started grabbing some ammo. I looked as I saw a bit inside of Daniel's room. All I saw was a framed photo of him and Lisa celebrating his 30th birthday. _Those two look so happy together. I wonder if they realize that they're in love._ Then realization struck. _I saw Lisa earlier with a friend, and I know for sure I didn't see Daniel there._

I turned to my friend and asked, "G, where's Daniel?"

It seemed that time stopped when G turned to me solemnly. "Lisa told me that he was dead when I last saw her. I've never seen her any sadder in her life." I could feel my heart sink. _I've never seen her very sad at all… to hear how crushed she is by this…_

"G, we have to stop her. The grief is getting to her head!"

"What are you talking about, Rogan?"

"I think I know why she's doing this. Daniel's death may have broken her heart to the point where she's throwing herself straight at Death just to see him again."

"That's crazy! But… it could be true for all we know." G picked up a couple of satchels, which he filled with ammo. "This should do."

"Let's go, G, before my daughter does something stupid!" We left as quickly as we could, hopped in Sophie's car, and drove off faster than before.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: Bonding Time

Lisa Rogan's POV

My dad's car sat still on the side of the highway. We had no idea where we were supposed to go, but we were having fun on our joyride. Maya sat eagerly in the car as I exited the gun shop with a slick assault rifle. I didn't pay attention to what its name was and that stuff as I found myself too busy ogling the weapon. She looked curiously at the gun.

"Are you even allowed to buy that?"

"Technically, no. But when the gun dealer's a zombie, I think you're allowed to stretch the rules. After all, it's not like he can call the cops," I mused, thinking of the image of a zombie with a phone.

"Didn't some zombies steal your car last year?"

"Well, yes…"

"If it can steal a car, surely it can work a phone, right?"

"But even if a zombie called the cops, I doubt the police could understand it just moaning." We both laughed hysterically about the idea of the police trying to understand a zombie over the phone.

"I say we hurry up on our wild goose chase," Maya teased. I turned on the car and turned us around. I thought driving the other way might yield some rewards.

After a few minutes, it sure did.

The two of us were cruising down the road when I saw a large fire ball headed in our direction. I quickly swerved and barely avoided it. The sudden turn at the high speed sent the car spinning.

Maya found some thrill in our danger, as she shouted, "Whee!"

"Maya! This is not the time to scream 'Whee'!" I looked up to see what attacked us. _Of course it was the "Magician"._

The car stopped spinning and I grabbed the new rifle, quickly loaded it, handed it to Maya, and stomped on the gas once the car didn't seem like it was going to spin. "Think you can shoot it?" The Magician turned around after getting our attention and headed the way we were first going.

"Um, I'll try," Maya replied nervously.

"Just aim and pull the trigger. The red parts on him are his weak points."

"Okay?" I started chasing the Magician as it started to fly away. Maya held the gun in a way that made it obvious that she had never held a gun before, then aimed and tried to fire at the Magician. The chase and shoot routine continued for a little while until I realized where it was headed.

Right for the DBR Facility. I stomped on the brakes.

"Maya, stop shooting! He's leading us into a trap!"

"What do you suppose we do about that?"

"We leave him alone, get some R and R, stock up at the zombie's gun shop, then face this monster."

"You know where he's going?"

"He's headed for the place where it all started, and where the machine we need is. He's inviting us in so he can try to kill us. I say we go home and go over there tomorrow."

"Where are we going to stay for the night? I'm a little scared of going back to Kurain or Hazakura, and your house is kinda destroyed," Maya noted.

"I guess we can rent a hotel room for the night," I suggested.

"Good. It's getting dark out, and I don't feel like trying to shoot zombies out here in the dark."

"I doubt we'll meet any other zombies while we're here."

"If you say so."

I turned the car around and the two of us drove back into town and found a nice hotel room within my budget, which was bigger than I had expected, due to getting a free gun and free ammo from the zombie-run store. _I hope he doesn't mind being locked in the basement with his feet tied together for the night._ The room itself was nice, with a bed large enough for two people, a desk with a lamp on it, a closet, a small bathroom, and a mini fridge.

Maya hopped in the bed face first, giggling. She sat up on the bed and kicked off her shoes.

"What's got you so giggly all of a sudden?"

"I've had more excitement in the past few days than I've ever had with Nick or sis, and I know there's more to come tomorrow."

"I guess zombies excite you more than murderers, huh?"

"Well, yeah, but there were a few cases where the culprit was really, really scary, and a few of them tried to kill me!"

"Really?" I sat down on the bed next to her. "Sounds interesting."

"But enough about me. You've heard enough stories about me already." _The best one was the mini trial of who ate Detective Gumshoe's snacks and the judge turned out to be the culprit._ "Tell me more about your family."

"Well, my dad is a hard-headed, stubborn man that I barely know because I've barely spent time with him. He's always out killing zombies and whatnot. He spent a lot of time with me until I was three."

"You mean when all the zombies started attacking? The men of Kurain village actually came back to protect it and stuff, even though the current Master wasn't there."

"I thought you're the Master of Kurain or whatever."

Maya hung her head, "I started that two years ago… after my mom died."

"O-Oh," I had to lighten up the topic. "My mom used to be a researcher at the DBR Facility for a few years, then in 1998, a zombie outbreak happened there and she quit right then and there. She went back to college to take journalism because she wanted out of all scientific fields after that incident, considering that she almost died in there, if it weren't for my father."

"I guess your parents really love each other."

"Yeah. I just wish I knew my dad better."

"Me too," Maya sighed, "I can't remember mine. He left when I was two. So did my mom, after this whole 'DL-6 Incident' happened."

"'DL-6'? What the heck does that stand for?"

"It's just police code for the case. The whole thing was a mess, and for 15 years, the true culprit was never found."

"Well, did they ever find him?"

"It was Nick and I who discovered the true culprit was a famous prosecutor! And he got so angry he used a stun gun on us!"

I was blown away with surprise. "A stun gun?"

"Yeah! Apparently the only piece of evidence I managed to save from him was the key to his downfall!"

"So you're the one who pretty much saved the day," I added.

"That's kind of flattering to put it that way. But, anyways, you're so lucky that you still have your parents. I lost them and my sister. Nick and Pearly are my only family anymore."

"Gee, I guess I kind of take my family for granted, don't I?"

"Most people who have a family do," Maya replied. I bit my lip in guilt. _I never knew how lucky I was until she told me all of this. Poor thing._

The two of us continued our conversation until Maya was so sleepy that she couldn't even sit up. She quickly curled up under the covers after I told her to and went right to sleep. I looked over at the clock; it was almost midnight. _I wonder if this "Magician" thing has enough patience to wait the night. He'd better._ I looked over to the sleeping Maya and smiled. _I think she's grown on me. There's some sort of innocence that reminds me of when I first met Daniel, minus the cheeseburger obsession._ I turned off the lamp and slid under the covers, drifting off to sleep faster than I expected.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: Fatherhood

Trucy Wright's POV

I finished washing off my dinner plate when I heard a knock on the door. I made my way through the mess of our home and peeked up through the peephole. I saw who it was and opened the door and hugged the man at the door. "Daddy!" I could recognize his spiky hair from a mile away. I let go of him quickly afterwards and asked, "Where were you today? I haven't seen you since yesterday! I could have been kidnapped by some scary monster or something!"

"Sorry, Trucy," Daddy said. "I was out looking all day for my friend Maya."

"He's so in love with Mystic Maya!" I turned to see the where the other voice came from. It was a girl about my age with the coolest hair and outfit I had ever seen. "They're the cutest pair!"

My eyes lit up. "Daddy, you're in love?"

Daddy's face turned red as he started saying nonsense. "Women," he sighed. "By the way, Trucy, this is my friend Pearls."

"Nice to meet you, Pearls; I'm Trucy Wright. He's my daddy!"

Pearls looked at Daddy and punched him in the side a lot. "How dare you be unfaithful to Mystic Maya!"

"Ouch, Pearls, wait! I adopted her! OW!" Pearls stopped. "So, you have been faithful! Okay! Hey, this means Trucy and I are cousins!"

"What do you mean?" Daddy looked confused.

"If Mystic Maya's my cousin and Trucy is your daughter, then Trucy and I are cousins!"

"Pearls, you can't quite say that until Maya and I get married," Daddy said.

"Daddy, you're getting married and you didn't tell me?"

Daddy's face turned red again. "I-I'm not getting married to Maya!"

"You will soon, I just know it," Pearls cheered. "You will marry Mystic Maya, right? And I will tell if you're lying."

"Uh, Trucy, why does it smell like something caught on fire here?"

"I don't know," I shrugged as I said it.

"What did you have for dinner?"

"A couple of pb&j's."

"Well, what did you have for lunch?"

"A ham and cheese sandwich."

"Then what did you have for breakfast?"

"Cereal." Daddy's confused face was priceless.

"Let's just put that aside for now while you two girls have your girl time or whatever."

"Oh, Daddy, I just remembered something!"

"Yes, Trucy?"

"I went looking for you earlier, and I met this nice guy who had a cute dog named Pess, and the guy was really well-dressed even though he wore frills, and he told me that it's dangerous for a kid my age to be just walking around the place, and I said that I was looking for you and told him about you, and apparently you two are rivals or something," I paused to take a deep breath, then went on, "anyways, I told him that you got fired and you're playing piano at the Borscht Bowl Club now, because he asked where you have been for the past two years, and he said to tell you that if you get your defending badge back I should never get on an elevator with you and I don't know why because what can go wrong with a defense attorney and his nine year-old kid on an elevator, unless an earthquake hit, but I'm sure we'd be okay, right, Daddy?" Daddy's eyes were wide for some reason.

"So, you met Edgeworth. Great." He didn't seem happy about that. "Maybe I can get him to watch you two tomorrow while I look for Maya." He walked away and picked up the phone and started to call someone.

I turned to Pearls. "So, Pearls, wanna see a magic trick?"

She looked excited about it. "Of course!"

"Okay!" After a moment, Mr. Hat appeared by my side.

"Hello, Pearls! I'm Mr. Hat!"

"Woah! How do you do that, Trucy?"

"It's magic, Pearls."

"I wish I could learn magic."

"Hey, wanna join the Wright Talent Agency? I'm sure you've got some awesome talent!"

"I can channel spirits."

"Ooh, let me see!"

"Okay. I'll channel Mystic Mia, Mystic Maya's older sister." A green light surrounded Pearls as her body started to get bigger everywhere. Once the green light disappeared, Daddy walked in the room.

"Pearls, what are you – MIA? Wh-What? Why are you here?"

"Pearl was just demonstrating her channeling abilities to Trucy. Besides, I've never met your daughter, Wright."

"B-But…"

"No buts about it. Shouldn't Maya be here? Or did you let her run off with her new friend to go on a potentially life-threatening mission?"

"How did you know?"

"I've met her friend when Maya channeled me because her friend needed some help."

"Oh," Daddy replied. "And I do plan on finding Maya. Knowing her, she's out getting some rest."

"Good; otherwise, you'd be the worst boyfriend ever, Wright."

Daddy's face turned red again. "B-Boyfriend? Don't tell me that you've sided with Pearls!"

"Come on, Wry, it's obvious that you're in love with Maya."

"Well, I know it's getting close to nine o'clock, meaning it's about Trucy's bedtime. I don't know what Pearls' bedtime is, but I'm putting her to bed, and I think it would be a lot easier to do so if Pearls stopped channeling you."

"I thought you had some manners by now. Oh, well. Goodbye."

"Bye, Miss Mia," I said before she left. "Pearls, that was so cool!"

"Thank you, Trucy," Pearls said.

"Okay, girls, time for bed for the both of you," Daddy said as he led us to my messy bedroom. I let Pearls borrow one of my nightgowns and we both curled up into my bed.

"We're so going to be best friends," I said.

"I think so, too," Pearls replied.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: Encounter

Thomas Rogan's POV

It was the second day of our search, and I was hoping that it wasn't too late by now. I had to find my daughter, and she had better be alive when we get to her.

The three of us decided to start asking around, but it was all pointless, since we didn't get answers. Well, until I ran into a man with black, spiky hair.

"Excuse me, sir, have you seen a pair of young ladies recently? One is blonde and the other has long, black hair. The blonde is my daughter and I've been looking for her for days."

"Does the girl with the long, black hair wear it in a kind of weird fashion?"

"Yes." _Finally, I'm going to get some answers!_

"I can't say I know where they are, but I've been looking for them. The other girl is Maya, my friend. By the way, I'm Phoenix Wright."

"I'm Thomas Rogan." I handed Phoenix a slip of paper. "If you get any information about the two, I want you to send me the information pronto. Got it?"

"Understood." He said as he nodded.

I rejoined Sophie and G and explained everything that had occurred. A few minutes later, as we were driving down the road, I got a text from an unknown number that said:

"The girls are headed for a place called the DBR Facility. –Phoenix Wright"

"Sophie, G, they're going to the DBR Facility!" I yelled.

"What? Why?" Sophie asked.

"Beats me!" This only urged Sophie to drive faster. But, soon, Sophie had to swerve to dodge a green fireball headed at us.

"Sophie, get down!" G yelled. G and I whipped out our guns and aimed them at the strange creature, which looked eerily like the Magician, except this had short, teal hair, blue and green eyes, and a feminine figure. It tried to fly away, cackling evilly in a robotic but feminine voice, but we gave chase.

"Catch me if you can, boys!" Annoyed, G and I began to constantly fire at the creature.

The creature began to launch more fireballs in return, but fired them like bullets: small and very fast. Sophie was having a hard time swerving away from all of them, to the point where she sent the car spinning from the constant turning. I shot at it one last time, as it howled in pain and fell to the ground. Sophie stopped the car and I hobbled over to it as it pushed itself off of the ground with its arms.

"I remember now." It croaked.

"Huh?"

"My name was Mariza… Mariza Goldman. My father… wanted to use my telepathy… for his 'New Humanity'. He made me… he turned me into this." _Goldman had a daughter? How come we never encountered this – Mariza – all those years ago?_

"Mariza…"

"Your name… is Thomas. You're looking for… your daughter… Lisa. Make me a promise."

"A… promise?"

"Promise me you'll… you'll be a better father than mine…"

"I promise on my life I'll be the best father I can be." _Never expected a zombie to give me such a motivational speech, but, she means well._

"Thank you… for freeing me." Sophie ran over and hugged the dying creature gingerly.

"It's going to be okay, Mariza."

"I know it is. Don't worry… I'm happy now." And with that, Mariza fell limp in Sophie's arms. I hadn't known Mariza well enough to feel extreme sadness over killing her, but that doesn't mean it still wasn't sad. Sophie somehow had felt more of a connection to Mariza and was beginning to cry.

"Come on, Sophie. We have to keep our promise to Mariza."

"Right." She gently set Mariza on the ground and the two of us got back in the car.

"What was going on out there?" G asked.

"I made a promise to a dying zombie that I was going to be a better dad." I replied. G looked really confused, so I began to explain everything to him. Sophie was clearly driving beyond anyone's speed limit since, by the time I finished explaining, we made it to the DBR Facility, with Phoenix standing outside.

"The girls are inside. I promised not to go inside and interfere. But you didn't make that promise." He said.

"Exactly," I replied as I limped inside the building as quickly as possible. The stench of rotten bodies was overwhelming. I heard the sound of Lisa's voice from above and noticed a giant hole in the ceiling that cleared to the roof. "Dang." G looked up the same hole as he came in, so we both knew to go to the roof.

Once we got on the roof, a sinister voice sneered, "And the guests of honor are here. That means your time is up." I knew that monster from anywhere. It was a monster that haunted my nightmares. And now it was threatening my daughter. _The Magician._


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Ninteen: Conflict

Lisa Rogan's POV

I awoke to a bright light and Maya practically belting out a song from an old Disney movie. The only problem was that she was very off-key the whole time.

"Maya, give me one more hour," I groaned, throwing a pillow over my ears.

"No way, Jose!" She leapt onto the bed, which was probably her attempt at knocking me off of the bed. "We've had our R and R, and now it's zombie butt-kicking time!" _Says the girl who is deathly afraid of zombies and can't fire a gun worth squat._

"Fine, I'm up." I sat up and stretched. Within the next half hour, we had checked out of the hotel we were at and were getting ready to drive off to the DBR Facility when I heard a familiar voice call out to Maya.

She turned around and headed for the voice. "Nick!" She leapt at her friend and hugged him tightly. "Where's Pearly?"

"Oh, she and Trucy are with Edgeworth."

"Trucy?" _Who are Trucy and Edgeworth?_

"Oh, yeah, right." He scratched his head awkwardly. "She's my adopted daughter. She and Pearls are getting along great."

"I can see it now: Phoenix Wright, Ace Daddy!" I couldn't help but laugh at Maya's wild imagination. _Just who is Edgeworth? Bah, that doesn't matter._

"Come on Maya, we don't have much time," I called out to her.

"No." Nick looked very serious.

"I don't have time to explain, but if you don't want to worry about zombies anymore, then let Maya come with me."

He approached me and grabbed Maya's wrist. "I won't let her get in this much danger anymore. I don't care how close you are, I promised that I would keep Maya safe."

"Trust me, I wouldn't dream of thrusting her into danger. She's practically become the sister I never had. I would never let my family be put in harm's way. I promise that she won't get hurt."

He hesitated, then finally let go of Maya. "I'm coming with you."

"You can stay for the car ride, but once we get there, I will not let you in the DBR Facility. Understood?"

Nick whipped out his phone and texted something to someone. "Understood," he said as he put his phone back in his pocket. The three of us hopped in the car and sped off to the DBR Facility.

As soon as we pulled in, Nick kept his promise and didn't follow Maya and me into the building. A silver glimmer caught my eye as we closed the door behind us.

"Alright, Maya. Let's go."

"Okay!"

The two of us took the elevator to the one place G and I never checked last year while searching for my dad: the basement.

"Are you ready for this, Maya?" I asked.

"Not really, Lisa. I-I'm scared."

"Well, relax. G and I practically cleared this place last year. Just stay behind me and you'll be safe."

"Okay, b-but what if I freeze up and can't do anything?" I knew she was afraid of losing her focus on her powers due to fear.

"Then relax, and think of everyone who's counting on us. I'm counting on you to help me, and if you can't help me, then we won't be able to finish this." I paused. "And we might even die. You can't do that to the people who care for us. You know that, right?"

"Right. I'll do my best to help!" The eager gleam in her eyes that I was so used to seeing had returned once again.

"Then do as I say, and don't raise any objections. Got it?"

Her expression became serious, but determined this time. "Yes." Despite this, I could tell she was still shaken by encountering that horde of zombies while trapped on the bridge over Eagle River, and the thought of seeing more zombies wasn't settling well with her.

I aimed my rifle at out the door as it opened and was given quite a surprise.

There were no zombies there.

The room was empty. The walls and floors were nice and clean, as if nobody had been there before us. Maya's hands gripped my shoulders tightly as we traversed down the hall. I would not let my guard down.

I pushed open a pair of black double doors to find a strange machine with a red, glowing figure in it.

"This must be the machine," Maya said.

"Probably. But I have a feeling we're going to have to get that thing out of the way if we want to work the machine… no doubt this was set up by the Magician."

"How do we get it out of the way?"

"It's simple." I pushed Maya out of the double doors, closed them, and found something to hold the door shut so Maya couldn't get in any danger, should this red figure pose a threat.

I turned to the machine. Upon closer inspection, I could tell that the red we saw was the cloak, and the figure was humanoid, not to mention paler than Daniel had ever been, which is really, really, really pale. The figure also held two swords.

"Yep, he's a threat." I pushed a big, green button which I assumed would release him. The glass walls encasing the figure slid down and the figure's hollow eyes glowed purple. "Come get some," I snarled.

The figure's head turned and looked at me for one second, then it floated up above the machine and began to glow purple.

Immediately, I saw several purple orbs headed in my direction. I ran back and forth to try to avoid them and ducked behind a table that had been knocked over. I aimed carefully and tried to shoot him. Instead, I hit the orb, and it disappeared. _That's going to make things so much easier. Thank you for throwing attacks that can be easily blocked._ I aimed at his face, but shooting his face seemed to do no damage to him. I aimed for the chest, which brought a painful grunt from him. _Gotcha, sucker._

I heard a strange sound outside of the doors, but paid no mind to it. The cycle of me shooting the red-cloaked man in the chest and at his purple orbs continued until he became irritated about that. He shifted his body 90 degrees and began to form a tornado of purple his light, spinning both him and his swords. It was much harder to hit him in the chest now, but I managed to hit him quite a few times before he was nothing but a purple glow and charged straight at me.

I jumped and rolled out of the way as he nearly crashed into the wall. He charged again, simply lunging at me with his swords. I kept shooting at him until I heard a **shink** as his swords plunged into the wall, trapping me in a small space. His face was uncomfortably close from mine. My rifle was practically touching his chest.

His eyes glowed even brighter, as more purple orbs than before shot at me. I ducked down to avoid as many of the orbs as possible and shot him in the chest a few times once I knew I was safe from his attack. After the last bullet, be began to writhe in pain as he let go of his swords.

It was almost painful to watch him, knowing he was dying. His whole body glowed purple as several purple orbs spun around them. He practically disappeared into a purple light as the orbs shot out at me. I ducked, hoping they would miss me, but fell to the ground, clutching my shoulder in pain immediately afterwards. _I have to be more careful when I'm fighting the Magician._

I went over to the door, removed the barricade from the doors, and opened them to find an empty hallway.

"Maya?" There was no sign of her whatsoever. "Maya? Where are you? Say something!"

I ran down the hall in pursuit of her, hoping she was standing at the elevator, waiting for me. I stopped halfway through. There was a large hole in the ceiling, and the edges of the hole looked burnt. _I wouldn't put it past the Magician to go this low._ I looked up the hole, trying to count how many floors up I was going to have to go. Turns out, he was on the roof.

"I think you're missing something," a voice mocked through the hole.

"Shut up! I'll be up there soon, if you're that impatient!" _He knew this whole time that I'd be coming! Or was it the noise of fighting that red guy that got him to notice I was here? Either way, he's going down!_

"Lisa, help! I'm scared!" There was genuine fear in the childish voice that belonged to Maya. It was just like when we were at Hazakura Temple.

"Hang in there, Maya; I'm on my way!" I stepped into the elevator just after I finished my sentence. The wait of going the elevator to the top floor seemed too long. _Maya will be safe. If he plans to kill her, he would wait until I showed up. She is fine right now._

Greeting me outside the elevator door was a bat-like zombie about the size of a child. "Oh, come on!" I kept shooting at it just as it ducked behind a giant, headless suit of armor wielding a very big axe. "Can today get any worse?" I avoided the armor's attack as I shot the small zombie again and again. The armor eventually fell down and didn't move any more afterward, leaving the zombie with no choice but to charge at me, claws ready. Despite his speed, I had enough bullets to kill him just before he could hit me. After he fell to the ground, I stomped on his head for good measure.

I ran to the nearest set of stairs I could find that took me to the roof and quickly got up the stairs.

"Your little friends on floor three were too easy," I mocked as I approached the Magician. "Now, where's Maya?"

"Look to your left," his lips curled into a fiendish grin. My head snapped to my left to see Maya in a large machine, clearly encased in some sort of ring of fire. She was sitting on her knees, and it looked like she had a crying fit from fear. I started to go to her, but a fire ball hit the ground between me and her. "I know there's something you really want from me, and that's why I've been expecting you. I know you want answers about your precious Daniel."

"You told me you killed him," I snapped.

"I simply said he was no more, though what you just said holds some sort of truth in it. Daniel is dead."

"Well, duh. What else is there to know?"

"He is also alive," the Magician replied as his empty eyes locked onto mine, which widened in shock.

"That's ridiculous!"

"Do you want to know where he is?"

"Y-Yes." I did not like the idea of this guy predicting my next move.

He put one hand on his chest and the other behind his back, and gave a little bow as he said, "You've found me."

"You're lying!" I shouted in disbelief, rage, and sadness.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to believe it. Either way, I will kill you soon. I know your father and his pathetic friend won't be able to resist coming to valiantly saving you, and I'm going to make them pay for what they did to me! First, they will lose the ones they care about most, then I kill them, while they're begging for death! It's a shame I have to kill you so quickly. You seemed like you would have been a formidable foe."

I hadn't noticed Maya this whole time. She leaped onto the Magician, grabbing his leg and jamming a needle into its leg to draw its blood. It howled in pain and tried to shake Maya off. She finally let go, only to nearly be flung off the roof. She victoriously held up the vial filled with its blood.

I heard the door to the roof open as I turned to see Dad and G run through the doors.

"And the guests of honor are here." It turned to me. "That means your time is up." Dad quickly reacted by shooting it in the arm.

"Lisa, you get your friend out of here! G and I will get rid of this thing!" I ran to Maya, grabbed her, and the two of us ran for the door. I turned and saw a large ball of fire headed our way, one that would kill us instantly. I shoved Maya out of the way, leaving me no time to dodge.

I didn't feel the pain of the burns. I didn't feel the heat of the fire. I felt two strong arms wrap around me as I fell to the ground. I looked to see my father on top of me, severely burned, with his arms wrapped around me.

"Daddy?"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: Loss

Lisa Rogan's POV

"Daddy?" I could already feel the tears pouring as I gently shook my dad.

"Lisa…" he moaned as he let me go. I held him in my arms, relieved he was alive. "I made a promise to someone that I'd be the best dad I could be. So, sorry for hardly ever being there. I don't deserve to be your dad."

"That's not true, Daddy. I always took you for granted, always." I sobbed.

"It's going to be okay, Lisa."

"No, it's not." I noticed the sound of the gunfire had stopped. _It's watching us… it's enjoying watching Daddy die. I don't care if that somehow is Daniel or not; I'm killing that monster!_

"Lisa, remember. You've got to believe in yourself." He let out one last sigh. My dad was dead. Just like that. I tenderly set my deceased father on the ground, loaded my rifle, and turned to G.

"G, take Maya to the basement. This just got personal."

"Lisa, no! You'll get hurt!"

"Do it now!" I aimed my rifle at G, hoping to scare him into submission. He backed away, grabbed Maya and led her through the door. I turned back around and unloaded a round into the Magician's leg, which Maya already weakened by jabbing a needle into it.

"I didn't plan to kill you second, but you will be a much more fun fight." The Magician mused. It darted around me and only stopped once it was about to pelt me with a ton of fire balls. I dodged all of the fire balls while attempting to shoot it, which turned out to be a lot harder than I thought.

This cycle continued for a while until it knocked me down the hole. I managed to catch myself so I only fell one story. I shot it repeatedly as it slowly descended. It looked very, very angry.

This time, it didn't pause while shooting balls of fire at me. I took cover behind the big suit of armor that I had taken down earlier and launched the small, winged zombie at the Magician. I ducked into the suit of armor as it flung a massive fire ball at me. After a few moments, I felt the suit being lifted into the air as an intense, searing pain overcame me. I climbed out of the suit of armor quickly, hoping to escape the pain, as it seemed the Magician was trying to roast me alive in it.

The Magician grabbed my wrist firmly and lifted me up and I used my free hand to try to pry his grasp off of me. He was much stronger than Daniel ever was.. With its other hand, I saw it holding a needle and some strange, orange liquid that looked similar to its own DNA strand that Daniel showed me not too long ago. _Oh, God._

"Wondering what this is?" I didn't answer his question, but I was curious. "It's the last of Goldman's experimental DNA crafted after mine. This is his 13th model of 29. The first two were the Emperor and the World, but they're both gone. If I remember correctly, this one is called the Siren. Let's see what it does." He jabbed the needle in my vein, causing me to scream in pain. A sick smile spread across his face as the DNA was injected into my blood stream.

The Magician dropped me to the floor and watched as I writhed in pain from the imminent transformation. I could feel my body changing. I saw my hair turn into an unnaturally bright red, and my five-fingered hands became hands with three claws. My body became naturally armored and yet several parts were exposed. The pain was so intense, I couldn't stay conscious. _Is this how Daniel felt? I'm so sorry, Daniel. I should have been there for you. I could have saved you – us – from this._


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One: Salvation

G's POV

I calmly but quickly escorted Maya down the stairs, through hall, and into the elevator. I noticed the vial in her hand filled with blood.

"Hey, Maya, what's that vial of blood?" I had to know.

"Well, some DNA. There's a machine in the basement that's going to hopefully give us a cure for the zombie stuff."

"You know how to work it?" _Maya doesn't look much like a scientist in those clothes… whatever those clothes are for in the first place._

"Well, um, Dr. Curien knows how to." She looked a little humbled.

"Dr. Curien? He's been dead for years!"

"Actually, I'm a spirit medium. I channel spirits into my body, so he's going to be doing all of the fancy science-y work." She fingers brushed over the cute charm on her necklace.

We entered the basement and I was surprised to find the hall empty. Maya led me to a room and opened the door. It looked like there had been quite the ruckus in there.

"There was a thing in here earlier." Maya noted. "I guess Lisa killed it." I looked around the room just to ensure it wasn't hiding anywhere… whatever this thing was.

"Room's clear," I stated as I poked my head in the last nooks and crannies of the room. "No sign of life in this whole thing. Now you go do your thing with the spirits and the DNA; I'm going to find clues about what Dr. Curien can do with it. I found a file on a table that was somehow not overturned during the squabble. It contained nearly 30 pages on several monsters designed by Goldman – Curien helped in some – the Wheel of Fate, the World, the Emperor, something called the Star, and with a little more flipping, found "Pestilence". _Mariza… poor kid._ I flipped some more and found one called the Siren. It was the last one I looked at before closing the file.

"Blasted machine!" I heard a thunk. Maya – Dr. Curien – was kicking the machine in frustration.

"What's going on?" _Nothing should be going wrong __now__. Not with an angry zombie trying to kill someone I care about – and no doubt out to kill me._

"Even though this medium's body has changed to suit my spirit, her DNA hasn't changed, so I can't get past the security bypass. It's not my fingerprints. The only way we can get past it is if you magically found a living researcher that didn't quit before the outbreak in here."

_Sophie._

"One moment, Doctor. I'm going to go grab one." I bolted out the door and headed up the stairs as quickly as I could.

"G? What's going on in there?" Sophie asked. Nick was right next to her, and looked ready to ask some questions.

"No time to talk, Sophie. You're going to be Deus Ex Machina for a moment." I grabbed her and dragged her into the building, down the elevator, and into the room. "Can you get past this security bypass? Don't ask about our friend. I'll explain later." I wanted to tell her about Rogan's death, but I knew it would be so unsettling that she wouldn't be as focused on the cure. Nobody could afford to kill that now.

The sound of an unholy, blood-curdling shriek about killed her focus. Sophie looked very concerned. "I'll go check to see what's going on upstairs. You and the doctor need to talk your science jargon that would make my head hurt so you guys can figure out what to do with the DNA." I ran up the stairs.

Nothing on the first floor.

Nothing on the second floor.

I reached the third floor. The Magician was there, but it took no notice of me. It was too busy with the other creature that was brutally attacking it. The mystery creature looked similar to Mariza, but the color scheme threw me off. _Wasn't it called the Siren or something like that?_

_ Wait. Where's Lisa? Why isn't she—_

Then, it hit me.

Something I didn't want to happen.

Something I should have never known.

_Oh my God!_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two: Awakening

? POV

I awoke, my body in searing pain. I searched through my thoughts to find out why I was in pain, or who I was. I looked at my hand, with three slender, black claws. The sight of them didn't seem right to me. I ran my hand through my hair. It was soft. I could see few red hairs. The color of the hair didn't seem right, either. I searched my mind once again, my hand still in my hair. A memory came back.

It was me and a man. He was handsome, with beautiful brown eyes and soft, brown hair. _Daniel_. I used my hand, five fingers and all, to scruff up his soft hair. Thinking of this man brought a new feeling to me. _Love_. What was this "love"? Was this man "Daniel"? He laughed. His voice was comforting.

I took my hand out of my hair and closed it into a fist. _So I'm supposed to have five fingers, not three claws. How did this happen?_ I looked at the rest of my body. It looked strange, with the yellow and black armor.

_Gee, these spirit mediums sure look strange._ Another memory. A young woman. She seemed vibrant, full of life. What was her name? _Maya_. A little girl was with her. _Pearl_. And a man with spiky, black hair. _Nick_.

My friends. They were my friends. It seemed they were all trying to say something. A special feeling overcame me. _Family._ What's a family?

An older man with grey hair and nice clothes appeared in my mind. He looked approvingly at me. _Uncle G._ I remembered a blonde woman hugging me, telling me things would be alright. _Mom._ What's a "Mom"?

There was one word all of these people kept trying to tell me; what was it?

A brown-haired man appeared in my head. He looked badly burnt, dying. He said one thing before falling limp. _"… remember, you've got to believe in yourself."_ What was that first word he was saying? Who was he? I concentrated on that one word. I could faintly hear the word, and kept listening, replaying the memory, until the sentence was complete.

_"Lisa, remember, you've got to believe in yourself."_ Lisa…? All of the memories suddenly came rushing back and one word escaped my mouth.

"Daddy?"

"Your 'Daddy' is long dead, but not in the sense that we are." I looked up to see a hellish creature levitating by my side. _How long had he been there, watching me like a dog chasing its tail?_ "It's time to pay our friends downstairs a visit." He seemed familiar. _Type 000… Magician._ "If you've forgotten everything…"

"My name is Lisa," I interrupted, "and I believe in myself." I lashed out at it, swiping my claws at anything I could. I remembered what the Magician had done to me. He retaliated with blasts of fire. I put my arms in front of my face, but didn't feel any heat. I only heard the sound of steam. I looked to see a large bubble of water protecting me. _Time to test out my new talents._ I smirked.

He started to attack again, but I kept swinging, now launching blasts of water at his fire balls. Instinctively, I froze some of the water and shot shards of ice at his exposed parts. Despite his best efforts to melt all of the shards, I landed a few hits on him. _I can win this one._ I kept attacking, but faster now, driving him into the defensive, something he clearly wasn't used to. I could kill him if I wanted to at this point.

_"I know you want answers about your precious Daniel."_ That was the Magician's voice. Is that why I was here? Was it how I became this?

_"You told me you killed him."_ I remember finding the bag by the temple and the pile of burnt bodies, roasted by the Magician himself. It was hard to take the news of Daniel's death.

_ "I simply said he was no more, though what you just said holds some sort of truth in it. Daniel is dead."_

_ "Well, duh. What else is there to know?"_

_ "He is also alive."_

_ "That's ridiculous!" _My thoughts exactly. How is someone dead and alive at the same time? Then again, the Magician did say earlier that my dad was dead, "but not in the sense that we are."

_"Do you want to know where he is?"_

_ "Y-Yes."_

_ He placed a hand on his chest, and bowed playfully to mock me, as if this knowledge was somehow blatantly obvious. "You've found me."_

I stopped my barrage and stood still. "D-Daniel?"

Despite being enraged from the fact that I had overpowered him for this time, he still managed a smug grin. "This may be the body of Daniel Curien, but it belongs to me! Try all you like, but your pathetic Daniel is never coming back!" His gaze shifted slightly to the right. "Oh, it seems we have a guest."

I turned around completely. Standing just outside the elevator was a man in a suit, with grey hair. "Uncle G!" I was suddenly overcome with a severe, painful burning sensation. The new pain, added to the old pain that I barely managed to overcome, brought me to the ground; I landed on my hands and knees, quaking.

"Lisa!" He tried to run towards me, but a fire shot up between us.

"Just in time, Agent G. I was hoping you could see your little Lisa die before I killed you." The Magician lifted me up by something on my head. A… horn? How did I not notice that I grew horns?

"Let her go," G growled, brandishing his rifle.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I let Rogan die before his own child, and I didn't quite feel the same satisfaction of killing him as I will with killing you while you're suffering." _Someone sure has quite the vendetta with Dad and G. I wonder why._

I had to act, and fast, before this thing finished me off. I weakly lifted my hands, aiming at his face, and shot several ice shards in what looked like an exposed area while he was busy with G. He howled in pain, dropping me. As I fell, I shot a blast of water at the elevator button. The door opened as I hit the ground.

"Uncle G, run!" I shrieked. He didn't move. "Don't you dare stay behind to save me!" I shot him back with a blast of water, knocking him into the elevator as the door closed.

"Why must you be so persistent?" The Magician grabbed me by the throat and lifted me up, gripping me with full force. It was hard to breathe. "You just love ruining my fun, don't you? Odd, considering you seemed to really care about your poor Daniel."

"Well, you're not Daniel," I choked.

"Clever girl," he noted.

"And why am I so persistent, you ask?"

"Enlighten me." He squeezed my neck tighter.

"Because… I was… buying… time for the others… so they could stop this madness…" I smiled before I felt heavy. I couldn't stay conscious longer, and now that he knew I was just buying time, I couldn't stall him any longer. _That was pretty dumb of me._ Quickly, I fell limp, fading into unconsciousness.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Last Stand

G's POV

First Rogan, now Lisa. Lisa was about to die and there was literally nothing I could do about it. I drug myself out of the elevator, down the hall, and into the room where Sophie and the doctor were discussing something. From the looks of it, it seemed they were on the peak of discovery. They were both locked onto that machine.

"Oh my God, it worked!" Sophie couldn't contain her excitement. She picked up a small vial, filled with a blue liquid and some white strands in there. "Come on, G, we need to take this to the satellite on the roof. Once we get it there, we'll be able to distribute this immunity around the world through the air in minutes!"

"Sophie, I just hope you don't mind seeing a few dead bodies or anything."

"I don't mind after the incident, but what are you going at?"

"Rogan's dead." Sophie's smile faded away, the color draining from her face.

"No…"

"And Lisa's just buying us time on the third floor. I don't know how much longer she'll hold up." Sophie looked ready to lose her mind. "Doctor Curien, do you or Sophie know if that will actually reverse the effects of zombification, or does it just make you immune to becoming a zombie?"

"It depends on the zombie," Dr. Curien replied. "If it's an average, weaker one, then of course it will. But if it were something like the Magician, then the chances are slim. And by slim I mean 0.0001% chance. 0.000001% chance if you don't want nasty side effects."

"So there's a chance of at least saving Lisa, if she survives," I blurted. Pure shock overcame the two scientists. "Nevermind what I said; we don't have time to lose!" I ran out the door, with the two scientists hesitantly following. I accidentally killed their motivations by letting them know their kids were zombies. _Watch what you say, G._ We stepped into the elevator. "Stay behind me until I tell you to run. I've got to protect you from what's up on the third floor."

"What's on the third floor?" Dr. Curien asked.

"Your masterpiece." He seemed shocked.

"How did it come back?"

"Apparently Goldman had a leftover strand of DNA from when he did his 30-something experiments with it. One of those experimental strands got into Lisa's DNA. I don't know about the Magician's DNA, though."

The door opened. The Magician was gone. I ran over to Lisa, who was slumped down on the floor, without any signs of life. I had to try. "You okay, kid?"

No response. The Magician rose up from the hole in the floor. "There you are. I'd been looking for you." His focus turned to Sophie, his expression turning to rage. "You! I killed you! I toppled your house on you! It doesn't matter. I'll kill you now!" I shot him multiple times before he could even ready himself to attack Sophie. He turned back to me.

"Run!" I shouted as I shot the Magician again.

I heard Lisa moan something as she weakly lifted her arm. "Daniel."

_Daniel? She must be seeing him now that she's dying._ I followed the path her arm made. It led to the Magician, who sat still, grinning a devilish grin. _No. No. NO. NO! That can't be Daniel!_

"It took you long enough, G. How do you think I remembered you and Rogan defeating me? Because Daniel witnessed the whole thing. He saw you and Rogan escort Sophie from the facility, but he dared not follow. And now I can finally have my revenge on the two who dared destroy me, then I'll destroy all things like I originally planned to do!" Before I could react, he grabbed me by my head, knocked my gun from my hand, and lifted me up, forcing me to see Lisa's burnt, weak corpse. "But first, you're going to watch her die, and there's nothing either of you two are going to do to stop me!" He summoned a large fire ball with his free hand. I could feel the heat.

My thoughts flashed to when I first met Lisa. She was a spunky, teenage girl. She reminded me of her father with that fiery personality. I knew from one look that she was going to do great things. It may have been only last year when I met her, but we were so close, it's like we had known each other for much longer. We grew closer as we ventured through this place. This place was a spot where I had to save her from a pack of hungry, hatchet-wielding zombies. One had her gun under its foot, leaving her helpless. After that, she gave me a big, tearful hug. And now I couldn't help her. She was going to die, and it was all my fault.

_No._

I grabbed the Magician's arm, holding tight to the weak muscle I found, and dug my fingers into it, causing him to flinch, making him miss Lisa and hit the wall. He squeezed my head tighter, so I tore what muscle I had grabbed off of him, causing blood to spurt out, landing on my head, and making the Magician shriek in pain. He let me go, grasping the hole in his arm.

At this point, I didn't care if it was Daniel or not, because he wasn't acting like Daniel at all. My main focus was to save Lisa. I picked up my gun and turned to the Magician. "Let's dance."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four: Freedom

Sophie's POV

Doctor Curien and I ran for the satellite on the roof. The two of us fiddled around with the machine feverishly. If the Magician killed G before we could get the satellite up and running and distribute the DNA to the world, we would be helpless. I had to push every distracting thought of my head, but this was hard since my husband's charred corpse was just feet behind me and my possibly dead daughter was just underneath me.

The machine flickered with life. _I have to finish this… for my family!_ The sound of the struggle worried me. I hoped that G would be okay. I couldn't afford to lose everyone I knew and loved. First Daniel, then Thomas, then Lisa, and now G. That wasn't going to fly in my world.

A small pod opened up in the heart of the satellite with a needle in the center. I placed the vial in the machine so that the needle poked through the cork but did not rupture the DNA. If the DNA was ruptured, all hope would be lost. We would be, as Lisa says all of the time, so royally screwed the entire royal family was screwing us over. Not funny, I know.

The needle sucked up the DNA, transporting the life-thread to the heart of the machine. Doctor Curien put in several commands until we heard a shriek. _Oh, please, oh please don't let that be G!_ Doctor Curien collapsed to the ground, the body shape reverting to that of a young girl, a spirit medium. I quickly turned back to the machine, not concerning myself with the spirit medium that once held the doctor's spirit. I had to finish this if we were going to be saved.

Furiously, I kept punching in several commands and clearing multiple security bypasses. _Why did Doctor Curien have to be so paranoid, anyways?_ Then, I became stuck. I had absolutely no clue what to do. Only a cryptic code was on the screen, and I couldn't figure out how to decipher it. It read, "7H15157H3K3Y2L1F34N00347H."

I stood in though, deducing that the numbers were letters, too, so the code read, "This is the key to life and death." I thought for a moment on it. The key was, without a doubt, the first, or best, strand of DNA he created. Whatever that thing G was fighting down there was called his masterpiece. What was it called? I couldn't stand simply trying to figure it out. Maybe he had said it sometime earlier.

He did. _"Now this, this is my masterpiece."_ He held up a vial of DNA to the team of researchers. We were to experiment with it. The liquid in the vial was orange. He said he could create life with it. That seemed like something only magic could do.

_Magic… that's it!_

I typed in "Magician." When that failed, I typed in "M4G1C14N."

The machine whirred as the satellite glowed blue. The blue glow grew and grew until it exploded into a beautiful, blue light. Once the light faded, the blue glow started spreading through the air faster than I could keep up. I did it. We did it. I picked up the now conscious spirit medium next to me and hugged her. "We did it!" I saw G emerge from the stairs to the third floor. He ran over and hugged us.

"Thank God you two are okay," he sighed, clearly relieved. The three of us headed down the stairs, but what we saw wasn't pretty. Both Lisa and Daniel lay on the ground, badly hurt, possibly dead. A team of paramedics was hovering over them, patching them up and wheeling them out on stretchers. A smaller team passed by me with my dead husband on a stretcher. He looked so peaceful.

What I would learn from G later is that Thomas died to save Lisa. Turns out Mariza did have quite an influence on him for someone who we barely knew. As far as I knew, all I had left was G, and the spirit medium who turned out to be Maya, a close friend of Lisa's. The three of us left the DBR building together. The spirit medium ran to hug the man outside, sobbing into his hoodie. He wrapped his arms around her, comforting her. I buried my face in my scarf, finally allowing myself to cry over my husband, my daughter, and her friend – her lover.

As said in many tales of bringing the dead back to life, it takes great sacrifice for a revival.


End file.
